


Scattered Cycles

by HazelGatoya



Series: Between the Devil and the Digital Sea [7]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Gen, Homura is unconscious for most of this, Just exploring concepts really, Kyubey is snarky, Lots of talking about the Law and stuff, Madokami, Mentions of Homura's tendency to micromanage, Post-Canon, Sayaka and Madoka understand each other, The dichotomy of Homucifer and Madokami, They've been working together for a really long time, post-rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:14:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23816734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HazelGatoya/pseuds/HazelGatoya
Summary: The second week since the world reset, and more importantly, the second Friday. Homura crashes again and Madoka and Sayaka have a conversation about how the world works.
Series: Between the Devil and the Digital Sea [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659613
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32





	Scattered Cycles

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so surrealism is fun guys-

"Hey."

Her entire being feels like it is underwater, ripples running through where she is spread out almost beyond feeling. Sayaka Miki's voice is distorted, wavering, there's interference much like static on a radio.

" _Hey._ " 

She does not want to be aware. The ripples are beginning to irritate her, feeling more like a drumbeat than anything else. The more aware she is, the harder it is to stay so.

"Akemi. School's over."

School? She can't be at school again. She's pulled apart, drifting through a thousand stars- or is she the stars? She can't remember.

"She's really out, isn't she?"

Kyoko sounds worried, and it tugs at what little of a core she has. It's enough that she is suddenly not floating anymore. Her cheek is plastered against the silicone of her desk, she's too warm, too _heavy._ A groan shudders it's way through her. She _hates_ this body.

"There you are." And all at once, the aches are soothed to something at least manageable as Madoka's voice floods her hearing. "Homura-chan, open your eyes."

She obeys, heavy lids lifting to reveal three blurs standing around her. Red, blue, pink. A green blur is in the background. "Madoka?" she mumbles.

"Hey." Her voice is quiet, her hand a blessed sensation on Homura's. "Do you think you can stand up?

Homura hums her assent, she will, she will get up again and again if that is what Madoka needs from her. She slowly rises from her seat, Madoka pulling her forward and Sayaka supporting her frail frame on the other side. It is very kind of both of them. She still feels like she should not-

"You're okay, Homura-chan." Sayaka is speaking underwater to Kyoko and Shizuki, drowned out by Madoka's quiet voice. She wants to fall into the warmth of that voice, she thought that this body was too warm but that's because she's cold. She's so _cold,_ frozen in cherry blossoms and spider lilies, and cannot recall when she became that way. "You're okay. We're going to walk now."

God on her right, God's right hand on her left. Walking is clockwork, one heeled foot clicking in front of the other, the world a blur around them. She wonders if she's dead. If she is, why aren't they flying? "Madoka..."

Her tongue is lead, it shakes her rhythm. She stumbles, but the mermaid rights her system. "Homura-chan." The rose, her Rose, her salvation. She must be dead. "Hold on just a moment. Your apartment is the same, right?"

Ah, she's not dead. Or at least not in heaven. She nods, one beat, why would the place change? Her apartment would never be in Madoka's heaven, she'd never liked that cold, rhythmic place that had helped keep Homura from spiraling into insanity.

Oh.

Had she finally gone mad? Was that what this was?" She felt... she felt...

Everything was white again and she fell, fell back down into the abyss of stars, the soft murmur of "Goodnight, Homura-chan," taking all the pain out of shattering back into her thousands of pieces.

-

Homura had settled far more quickly this time, though Sayaka thought it might have something to do with the fact that she was in her actual bed instead of on a bench. She also hadn't woken up on her own right after class this time and had hardly been aware even when she'd been moving. She still had a death grip on Madoka's hand, so Madoka flopped facedown onto the bed with a sigh. "She is not gonna be happy at school tomorrow with all the questions that will be flying around," she commented into the covers while Homura stirred, turning onto her side and curling towards her.

"Do you think it'll convince her to not go next week?" Sayaka asked. "Or are you and I just going to have to be extra careful to avoid The Clappening while she gets more and more frustrated as time goes on?"

_That is a terrible oversimplification of what she does when she claps at you._ Kyubey hopped up onto the bed, shaking himself out. _On that note, Madoka, I did not know that you could reach your powers without her... freaking out. So to speak._

"Only on Fridays." Madoka took her face out of the covers, rolling onto her side and sitting up slightly so that she could look at Kyubey. "She can't handle anything personally on Fridays, and I think it's going to stay that way even if she tries to break the habit of actually fighting on Thursday nights, since she started this cycle in the very beginning of this new world."

Sayaka frowned at how _correct_ that sounded when she couldn't grasp why the concept sounded so familiar, and Kyubey cocked his head, tail twitching. ... _Explain yourself, Madoka._

"Oh. Hmm." Madoka's eyes went distant for a moment. "This would be easier if I showed you. Kyubey, this is how your people communicate, Sayaka, this is going to be a bit weird."

_When did you learn- oh never mind._

Kyubey sounded flabbergasted, and Sayaka grinned. "Hit us, Madoka."

Her friend smiled, and when her eyes opened, they were both golden. The world around them went white, surrounded by... spinning circles. _"I am called the Law of Cycles for a reason, you know,"_ Madoka remarked, fully in her god form now, pulling Homura into her lap instead of just holding her hand. The other girl was dressed in a gothic black dress now, a pair of much more ragged wings than Madoka's full white ones folded on her back. She still didn't show any sign of waking, instead curling up against Madoka's own white dress. _"I destroyed an imperfect cycle, therefore I had to become a perfect one."_

_What was so imperfect about the old?_ Kyubey asked, definitely not seeming bothered by the fact that they were standing and sitting on nothing at all. Sayaka couldn't even feel anything under her feet yet was staying in place perfectly fine.

" _Theoretically, a girl saw her deepest despair, was given a wish to combat that despair, and then went right back to that despair."_ Images flashed by, stories that Sayaka had seen before. Too many witches. Too many girls that had become witches. " _But sometimes that is not the case,"_ Madoka continued. " _Sometimes girls made the wish without the despair in the beginning, therefore the cycle was not much of a cycle."_

 _I understand... so a magical girl's journey begins with your hope and ends in it rather than dissatisfaction and then complete catastrophe._ Kyubey swished his tail back and forth, interest clear in his tone as he began pacing around them. 

_"What does that have to do with Homura?"_ Sayaka thought rather than spoke, seeing that Madoka's mouth wasn't moving. Telepathy, their old friend. _"Does this world work in cycles too?_ "

_"It's becoming a bit clearer to remember like this, right?_ " Madoka smiled again, and Sayaka nodded. _"See, Kyubey, I wasn't always awake and aware. I usually rested at the beginning of every season, and- later- whenever Homura did. I still woke up whenever a magical girl needed me, but I wasn't paying attention to personal matters. I didn't have much influence on personal matters anyways, so it was easy for me to rest unless Homura needed me. Even then, speaking to her outside of business was... difficult."_ Her smile had faded by this point, and she was gently stroking the other girl's wings now. _"Homura's matters, however, are all deeply personal, so instead of her controlling the cycles that keep everything in this world working properly, they sometimes force their command onto her._ "'

The world spun like a disc, becoming a sea of inky black dotted with stars instead of just pure white. Sayaka watched the moon that was split in half slowly becoming whole. " _So the world is basically knocking her over the head every week and telling her to knock it off with the micromanaging,"_ she concluded.

_Yes, this makes sense,_ Kyubey agreed, excitement entering his voice as his tail lashed a bit. _How fascinating! It is clear that from her erratic behavior and the state of this world that her mind is a mess. She is the world, but the less personal parts-_

 _"Are trying to heal so that everyone can more than just exist in this place, yes."_ Madoka was frowning at Kyubey now, her wings arched upwards. _"And this place will be stable, eventually. It's likely our last reality bend."_

 _"I sure hope it is,_ " Sayaka agreed, and the world swirled down to Homura's bedroom once again, the faintest scent of gunpowder hitting her nose. Homura was still curled up in Madoka's lap instead of clutching her hand. "If the kinks are going to work themselves out on Fridays and entropy is our only problem, that sounds good to me."

"I mean, there are a lot of other problems, but we've dealt with them all before." Madoka nodded. "This world and the Law are intrinsically tied. Homura can't shut it out completely and she doesn't want to." She looked down at the sleeping girl, a bit of sadness coloring her gaze. "With every Friday, her power over us in particular is going to lessen, so The Clappening will become ineffective at some point. She's still going to be so miserable until we stand on equal footing again... maybe even beyond that."

_For the purpose of balance... something needed to happen._ Kyubey sat down on the floor. _Somehow,_ some way, _you two stumbled into creating a universe that can exist and actively fight entropy. Your universe was lacking._

"No human was meant to stand alone, Incubator." Madoka smiled, one eye glowing golden again. "Not even one who had ascended to godhood."

"We're all individuals," Sayaka agreed with a grin of her own. "But our power as a race comes from being united as those individuals. Get enough people together, and you can overcome anything." 

"Even the universe itself," Madoka agreed, and Kyubey shook his head at them, but he didn't argue. There was no use in arguing something that had already been proven.


End file.
